Brighton installed two new features this season – one for beginners and one for experts.

Beginners will enjoy the Magic Carpet to carry them up the slope
The Magic Carpet is installed in the Explorer beginner area. Beginning skiers and riders – including kids who are learning and adults who are learning – enjoy the easy way up the hill. Just step on the Magic Carpet and they are glided up the slope.

Brighton has earned the reputation as “The Place Where Utah Learns to Ski and Ride and Keeps on Learning.” The Magic Carpet will make learning even easier and more fun.
Magic Carpet lifts have been installed in eight countries spanning four continents.

In addition, the Explorer beginner area also has a triple chairlift that’s especially for beginners. It moves slowly, which makes it easy for novices to get on. At the top, novices slide off easily.

For experts, on the Millicent side of the mountain, Brighton extended its GAZ EX system
GAZ EX is the state-of-the-art technology that releases snow that could potentially avalanche by blowing it up by a remote controlled computer. The system was installed in the Millicent Bowl last year.

Brighton traditionally gets 500 inches of snow a year, but it received more than 600 inches during the past two seasons. The Millicent Bowl is a wide open ungroomed bowl that is favored by expert skiers and riders who like the challenge.

The GAX EX system is widely used at European ski areas, such as Chamonix, and to control snow on steep slopes above European highways. Altogether, there are 1600 installations in Europe. In the U.S. GAZ EX controls the snow over Teton Pass and Carson Pass.

“Its concussion is 13 times more powerful than an avalauncher. It will rattle the snow loose,” said Area Manager Randy Doyle.

Avalaunchers, which have been the primary release method for years, use compressed air to fire an explosive. But their accuracy can be affected by wind and air pressure, and the duds must be found and recovered in spring.

GAZ EX uses concussion to control destructive avalanches by releasing snow in a planned way. It’s sort of a barbeque grill technique. When it’s time to release the snow, the gases are fed to a large, strategically located head. A computer-controlled spark ignites the gases and the concussion that follows blows up the snow.